Typical sensor devices may be connected to alarm systems which include a control panel for managing multiple sensor devices. The sensor devices may include carbon monoxide (CO) sensors or sensing elements, smoke sensors, or heat sensors. In the case of a CO sensor device or CO detector, the CO sensing element in the CO sensor device typically has a sensing life of 6 years from the date of manufacture, after which, the reliability of the sensing element cannot be assured. Therefore, the CO sensor device may have a built in timer or timing mechanism to indicate a trouble condition after 6 years of operation.
However, a disadvantage of this solution is that the operation time does not take into account the time period from manufacture of the device to the beginning of the time period of operation. Thus, the sensing life of the CO sensing element may not be the full 6 year time period. Therefore, present timing mechanisms for sensor devices are inaccurate and fail to consider the true life cycle of the sensor device.
Alternatively, known devices other than sensor devices may include life cycle indicators, such as a car battery, or a cell phone battery, or industrial equipment or machinery, and more particularly, indicators as part of car dashboard for alerting the driver of a multiplicity of problems and warning of end of life cycle issues with car equipment and systems, are all examples of life cycle indicators. However, most of these devices or systems do not provide an indicator to the user when the user is both local to the monitored device and away or remote with respect to the monitored device. Further, even when the user is remote from the device, the device or systems do not provide an accurate assessment of the life cycle of the monitored device nor do they provide multiple calculation options for assessing and indicating the life cycle end of the monitored device.
Therefore, a need exists for a device timing mechanism which more accurately calculates a life cycle time period and also provides multiple calculation options. Particularly, it would be desirable to provide a sensor device timing mechanism which accurately calculates a life cycle time period and initiates a signal communicating an end of life cycle. More specifically, it would be desirable to provide a sensor device timing mechanism which accounts for the time period from manufacture of the sensor device to the installation of the sensor device, and thereby reflects the true life cycle of the sensor device. Additionally, it would be desirable for the desired timing mechanism to be integrated with an alarm system to indicate at a control panel the end of the life cycle of the sensor device.